Marbles!!!

Today was a fun day! The snow cleared up enough for our family to make it to Marbles Children's Museum in Raleigh, NC. Josiah LOVES this place & BEGS Granddaddy & Grandma to take him every time he comes.

Josiah began his day by catching some magnetic fish!

We all had such a great time. Here Grandma & I are showing Josiah how to sort his food into food groups.

He played hockey, trains, restaurant, pirates, cars & tons of other fun things.

Josiah & Dustin also became handy men & did some building.

Thanks Granddaddy & Grandma for taking us to Marbles. We had a great time!

Josiah's 1st Time Sledding!

Today was Josiah's 1st time sledding. We were at Granddaddy & Grandma's house & they still have our childhood sled. So, we popped Josiah on top & he was thrilled to go down. After a few minutes, we saw the neighbors across the street come out & sled. So, we took turns sledding down each other's driveways. We had a great time!

Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas! Our family feels so blessed to be together with the Moody family this Christmas. It's been two years since we've been in NC for Christmas.

We began our day with....yep...PRESENTS! Granddaddy & Grandma gave us all TONS of presents! We are so spoiled.

Dustin & I also gave Josiah his 3 presents...just like the Wise Men gave Jesus.

Josiah really enjoyed opening presents. He really seemed to enjoy & appreciate the presents this year.

These are the three gifts we gave Josiah for Christmas...Peter Pan on DVD, a Buzz Lightyear dart-shooting gun & electronic drums. FUN!

Here are the stocking stuffers we gave Josiah for Christmas. Josiah is really into figurines right now, so we got Peter Pan & The Little Mermaid. We also got him a Worship CD & a Mickey Mouse watch from Disney World.

Here are the presents to Josiah from Granddaddy & Grandma.

Here are Josiah's stocking stuffers from Granddaddy & Grandma.

Here are Dustin's gifts from Dad & Mom.

Here are my gifts from Dad & Mom.

After all the presents, cooking & cleaning, it was time for the Moody family Christmas feast. The first to arrive were Josiah's cousins...Walker & Madison.

Josiah was SOOO excited to see them. I was really excited to see their mom, my cousin, Tyler. They love each other & talk about each other even though they live across the country from each other. Here the kiddos are exchanging presents.

Once everyone arrived, we all sat down for a yummy dinner...thanks Mom for working so hard to cook for everyone.

After dinner...IT SNOWED!!! A White Christmas!!! How wonderful!!!

Once the kids enjoyed sticking their tongues out in the snow, we all came back inside for the children to put on their annual play. After years of preparation & cold feet, they finally did it! It was so cute. They sang a song & then did a skit. Great job, kiddos.

After the play was over, we all sat down in the living room & hung out.

It was so nice to catch up with everyone & see how they have all been doing. What a wonderful time of family to be together.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours...Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve!

It's Christmas Eve & we're in N.C. We're excited to be here. Chris arrived from Washington D.C. & he brought his gift-giving itch with him. For years now Chris, Dustin & I have exchanged gifts with each other & given our gifts to Dad & Mom on Christmas Eve.

We began the morning with a very exciting gift. Uncle Chris gave Josiah a Wii for his birthday. So, he gave him the Wii game Mario Kart & a steering wheel for Christmas. This was a very exciting gift...not only for Josiah...but for us, too. Ha!

We always love watching Dad & Mom get their gifts as well. I couldn't post a picture of every gift we each received, so I posted my favorite reactions. These were two of my favorites that Chris gave them.

Dustin, Josiah & I gave Chris Season Five of "The Office." Josiah climbed up in Chris' lap to explain what this gift was. Josiah knows we love "The Office."

Dustin & I chose to exchange one gift with each other that were under $20. So, we picked them out ourselves. Ha! We were pretending to be totally surprised. DRAMA!

Here are the gifts Uncle Chris gave Josiah for Christmas. 2 Toy Story LEGO sets, a tub of LEGOs, Hyper Dash game, Mario Kart & Mario Kart Figurines. Granddaddy & Grandma give Josiah a little something on Christmas Eve & give the rest on Christmas Day. They gave Josiah Spiderman slippers & Disney underwear.

Here are the gifts Chris gave to me & Dustin. A precious photo book of Josiah, 4 Wii games & a Disney Christmas ornament. Dad & Mom gave Dustin a pair of shorts & T-shirts. They gave me a nice pair of pajamas. We also got a Wake Forest Memo Pad.

We continue our day of traditions by helping Mom cook & clean for the Christmas Day Feast. After working all day, we like to head to Outback for dinner. Upon our return from dinner, we read the Christmas Story & sing Christmas Carols together.

Since Dustin & I have become parents, we enjoy creating family traditions. So, it's nice to enjoy family traditions that our parents created years ago. It really has been a Merry Christmas Eve!

Day Eight...Time to Go!

Today was the last day of our Family Vacation to Orlando, Florida. We have all had such a wonderful time & have made lifelong memories on this once in a lifetime trip.

This morning, Chris flew back to Washington D.C. & we drove to North Carolina to stay with Granddaddy & Grandma. Chris will join us for Christmas in a few days.

Dustin, Josiah & I are so thankful to Granddaddy, Grandma & Uncle Chris for making this trip come true for all of us. We wouldn't have been able to come if it weren't for your generosity. We love you all very much!

Sea World Day Seven!

Today was Day Seven of our vacation & we went to Sea World. My family visited this park when I was a little girl & thoroughly enjoyed it. Josiah was really excited about seeing the awesome creatures. We began our day by going to Shamu Stadium to see Shamu the Whale's show called, "Believe."

This show was great. Shamu had just recently had a baby & it was so cute.

After the show, we rode on the Shamu Express Roller Coaster. We all love a good roller coaster. Next, we went inside to visit all kinds of underwater creatures. Here is Josiah posing next to a tank of tiny seahorses. He thought they were super cute!

Later in the afternoon we all headed to the dolphin show, which proved to be our favorite. The dolphins were beautiful & very talented. The performers were daring & entertaining. We all really enjoyed this one.

Then, Dustin & Chris (emphasis on Chris) twisted my arm to ride a roller coaster called, "Manta." I can now say that this roller coaster goes down in history as the scariest one I've ever been on. This roller coaster lays you down facing the ground for the entire ride. I was never so thankful to put my feet on the ground as I was after this one. Then, of course, they convinced me to ride it a second time.

After we rode Manta, we headed over to "Kraken." This roller coaster was also fabulous. I think Sea World had the best roller coasters we've been on all week.

We ended our time at Sea World by seeing the penguins. They were singing to the top of their lungs. We enjoyed seeing the penguins since seeing the movie, Happy Feet. Josiah began dancing around like he was in the movie. What a great day at Sea World.